Refuse Collection
The City of Alexandria collects trash from its residential customers once a week on a designated collection day, Monday through Thursday. Residential customers are charged a Solid Waste User Fee on the residential tax bill on a bi-yearly basis.
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General Curbside Refuse Collection
The City generally provides one 96-gallon refuse can free to households, except in Old Town, who receive City trash collection. Refuse cans are City property and must remain at your residence if you move. Another refuse can may be purchased if needed, but remain the property of the City of Alexandria.
Collection in Old Town
If you live in Old Town Alexandria or in a town home community with limited access, your location may preclude the use of the 96-gallon refuse cans. Please use approved refuse containers to store bagged trash outdoors.
Set Out Times
Set out refuse and recycling containers no earlier than 5 pm the day prior to collection, and no later than 6 am on collection day:
- Holiday “Slide”: If a City recognized holiday is observed on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday, refuse and recycling collection ‘slides’ to one day later that week (except for Thanksgiving when refuse and recycling crews provide a Thursday collection on schedule). Click here for the Holiday Collection Calendar.
- Inclement Weather: In over 50 years, the City has cancelled service only twice for inclement weather. However, there may be a delay while streets are plowed or treated. The collection crew will arrive at your home as soon as possible.
Collection Day
Please refer to the online map browser to determine your collection day.
Set Out Placement
In most single family neighborhoods, City crews collect household refuse at the curb. In most Old Town neighborhoods, collection takes place in alleys. All recycling is collected at the curb, If you are unsure where to place your refuse, please call the Solid Waste Division at 703-746-4410 (Please Note the New Number).
Backdoor Services
For elderly and handicapped residents, collection crews will remove refuse from containers at the door. Call 703-746-4410 (Please Note the New Number) to request this service.
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How to Prepare Materials
General Items: Please consider donation before disposal, when possible
- Always bag trash before placing it in the refuse can.
- For the safety of our crews, refuse cans and bags cannot weigh more than 75 pounds each.
- Set your refuse can close to the curb but away from your recycling bin, tree limbs, parked cars, and mailboxes.
- Please fill the refuse can before placing extra bags alongside the container. Up to six (6) additional bags are allowed.
Special Items: Batteries, Brush, Bulky Items, Glass/Mirrors, Knives, Metal Items, Needles/Syringes, Paint, Prescription Drugs, Rugs, Smoke Alarms, TV's/Computers, and Yard Waste.
Ineligible Items: Ammunition/Explosives, Construction/Building Materials, Hazardous Waste, Propane Tanks, Radioactive/Biological Materials, Rocks/Dirt/Sand, Stumps, and Thermometers/Thermostats.
Batteries:
Brush Items: Must be no larger than 2-3 inches in diameter; no longer than four (4) feet in length; be bundled and weigh no more than 75 pounds per bundle. Logs or stumps are not accepted. Set out next to trash can on your on regular trash collection day.
Bulky Items: Such as couches, tables, furniture, etc. can be donated, or set out with your regular trash.
Glass or Mirrors: Must be wrapped with several layers of newspaper or cardboard, taped at the edges and labeled as "Glass" and then placed in the refuse. Broken glass should be disposed of in a hard plastic container and then placed in the refuse.
Knives: Should be placed between two pieces of cardboard, taped together and then placed in the refuse.
Metal Items: The City collects 703-746-4410 (Please Note the New Number). The following items will be charged a $20 fee for collection, a bill will be sent to you in the mail for the following items:
- Stoves
- Refrigerators
- Washers
- Dryers
- Hot water heaters
- Freezers
- Dish Washers
*Residents can bring metal items to Covanta for recycling for free, once a week. Please see more information below.
Needles/Syringes*: Should be disposed of in a hard plastic container, such as a detergent bottle, capped securely, and labeled as “Sharps, then placed in the refuse.” Needles and Syringes should never go into the recycling bin.
*What about medical waste generated by medical care workers in your home? Medical waste produced by health care workers (physicians, nurses, home health aides, etc.) as a result of providing medical care in the home is not home generated medical waste. It is Regulated Medical Waste (RMW) and must be disposed of by a licensed RMW disposal company. The responsibility for the proper and safe disposal of regulated medical waste rests with the health care provider providing services in the home.
Paint: Should not be placed in refuse cans or next to trash in liquid form. Either save the paint for touch ups, allow the paint to dry in the can, or bring to the Household Hazardous Waste Collection Site.
Prescriptions Drugs: Never flush down a toilet or place in the sink! Return to the pharmacy or follow these instructions:
- Keep the medicines in their original container. This will help identify the contents if they are accidentally ingested.
- Cross out your name and prescription number for safety.
- For pills: add some salt water to start dissolving them. For liquids: add something inedible like cat litter, dirt or ash.
- Seal the container and secure with duct or packing tape.
- Put the container in the trash as close to pickup time as possible. Do not put in the recycle bin.
Propane Tanks: Return to your supplier or follow these preparation directions for disposal in the trash. The City does not accept propane tanks in curbside or drop-off recycling or at the household hazardous waste collection site.
Rugs: Must be no longer than 6 feet in length, rolled up and secured closed. Set out on regular trash collection day.
Smoke Alarms: May throw away in trash or send back to manufacturer.
Televisions/Computers: Unusable televisions and computers, as well as, other unusable electronics can be brought to the City’s Electronics Recycling drop-off collection site or can be set out with your normal trash.
Yard Waste:
- Recycle -- Leaves and grass clipping can be grass-cycled or composted in your backyard.
- Regular Trash -- Bag grass clipping and leaves excluding dirt. No loose grass clippings, branches or yard waste are accepted. Set out on regular trash collection day.
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Ineligible Materials: Where to Take Them
The following items are NOT ACCEPTABLE for curbside collection:
Ammunition/Explosives: Residents call the Police Department’s non-emergency number for disposal; 703-838-4444.
Construction/Building Materials: Includes Asphalt, Brick, Cement, Ceramic, Cinder Block, Concrete, Drywall, Marble, Porcelain, and Slate.To recycle the materials, use WMCOG Builder’s recycling guide for local recycling facilities for a specific material. These materials can also be brought to local solid waste disposal facilities.
Hazardous Waste: Residential household hazardous waste can be brought to the City’s household hazardous waste collection site.
Radioactive/Biological Materials: Contact private disposal company, e.g.: Clean Harbors, 540-977-3181; Clean Venture, Inc., 757-543-0185 or Potomac Environmental, 804-288-5043.
Rocks, Dirt, & Sand: To recycle the materials, use WMCOG Builder’s recycling guide for local recycling facilities for a specific material. These materials can also be brought to local solid waste disposal facilities.
Stumps: These materials can also be brought to local solid waste disposal facilities.
Thermometers and Thermostats: Containing mercury, bring to the household hazardous waste collection site.
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Local Solid Waste Disposal Facilities
Please call the local disposal facilities to learn more about acceptable materials, how to prepare materials, and the cost of disposal.
Covanta Waste-to-Energy Facility* 5301 Eisenhower Avenue, Alexandria, VA
703-370-7722
Hours: Monday - Friday, 6 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturday 6 a.m. to 11 a.m.
Materials NOT accepted as Trash: Stumps, rocks, dirt, sand, metal items*, construction and building debris, hazardous waste, ammunition/explosives, regulated medical waste and radioactive/geological materials.
*Alexandria residents can drop off small amounts of trash and debris, as well as, metal items for recycling once a week, (limit 500 pounds) free-of-charge at Covanta. Upon arrival, check in at the scale house for instructions. A valid City sticker on your car is required.
Alexandria Waste Recovery Facility
625 Burnside Place, Alexandria, VA
703-823-5009
Hilltop Construction Demolition Landfill
7950 Telegraph Rd, Alexandria, VA
703-971-1434
Lorton Landfill
10001 Furnace Road, Lorton, VA
703-690-1525
Potomac Landfill
600 Greentree Lane, Dumfries, VA
703-221-1498
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Spring Clean Up Program
Is Completed for 2009!
General Information
Spring Clean up is an additional refuse collection service to residential solid waste customers, those who pay for solid waste collection on the real estate bill. Participants are able to set out eligible items on designated Saturdays during the spring. All businesses and those residents who receive private refuse collection are not eligible to participate in the Spring Clean Up. Items are disposed of at Covanta and other local landfills. Please consider donation before setting out items for the Spring Clean Up program.
New! - In the spirit of Alexandria's Eco-City Initiative and to achieve a 35% recycling rate, residents are asked to segerate metal items and electronics. All large and small metal items and electronics will be recycled.
Ineligible Materials and Material Preparation Information
Ineligible Items include:
Material Preparation Information:
Please consider donating items before placing them out for Spring Clean Up or Regular collection. Check the map below to determine your assigned collection area and date of collection.
Place your materials at the CURB (no alley collections) no later than 7 a.m. on the day of collection and no earlier than 5 p.m. the day before collection.*
Separate all metal, electronics, appliances furniture, brush and other miscellaneous items for easy collection. Large and small metal items and electronics will be recycled
Large metal item examples: file cabinets, grills (not including propane tank), lawn mowers (empty gas tank), metal sheds, wire fencing, ladders, etc.
Small metal item examples: wire hangers, pots and pans, toasters, chairs, metal pipes, tire rims (no tire), etc.
All brush tied in bundles no longer than four (4) feet. Containers and bundles should not weigh more than 75 pounds.
*NOTE: Please ensure all materials are set out at the correct time. Crews will not make second trips into areas after the first pass, these materials, which are eligible, will be collected with regualer weekly refuse collection.
Collection Map and Dates - Is Completed for 2009!
For more information, please call the Solid Waste Division at 703-746-4410 (Please Note the New Number).
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